Nigel PAX
20th Nov 2001, 05:12
I flew BA from LHR to DTW on the 15th Nov. Most flights from T4 seem to have been delayed, but the explanations were feeble and inconsistent. We were scheduled to leave at 12:30, and left about 75mins late, after a series of chaotic announcements.
In the first class lounge in T4, the official story was along the lines of frost/de-icing delays/stands out of service/ resultant delays towing a/c from the hangars. In the meantime, I could see that stand 17 was empty for at least 45 mins.
When we eventually set off, the captain had a completely different explanation, to do with incoming flights landing early and having to be towed to their gates for noise reasons (yes, I know this happens) and getting delayed in the process. But if true, surely they could have re-started the engines and taxied in under engine power after the night-time noise restictions were over.
While I'm sure the duty manager and flight crew weren't deliberately lying, I can't help thinking that the real explanation was quite different (a security scare perhaps?).
Incidentally, the flight back from DTW was impeccable (DTW seemed very efficient, as always), and US security seemed genuinely thorough, but still polite. They found (but let me keep) a long-lost set of small nail clippers in a carry-on that LHR security passed without comment.
In the first class lounge in T4, the official story was along the lines of frost/de-icing delays/stands out of service/ resultant delays towing a/c from the hangars. In the meantime, I could see that stand 17 was empty for at least 45 mins.
When we eventually set off, the captain had a completely different explanation, to do with incoming flights landing early and having to be towed to their gates for noise reasons (yes, I know this happens) and getting delayed in the process. But if true, surely they could have re-started the engines and taxied in under engine power after the night-time noise restictions were over.
While I'm sure the duty manager and flight crew weren't deliberately lying, I can't help thinking that the real explanation was quite different (a security scare perhaps?).
Incidentally, the flight back from DTW was impeccable (DTW seemed very efficient, as always), and US security seemed genuinely thorough, but still polite. They found (but let me keep) a long-lost set of small nail clippers in a carry-on that LHR security passed without comment.